Shmup Related Questions That Don't Deserve a Thread

[Rastan78]

Does anyone have a scan or pic of what the instruction cards that came with a Japanese Darius Gaiden kit look like. I mean the long thin ones that can slide under the glass of the instruction area on the CP. For example G Darius had ones that look like this:

Spoiler

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I don't know that it had an instruction strip/move strip. If it did, I can't locate a photo. I've found the marquee here:

https://ikotsu.blogspot.com/2016/04/dar ... -1994.html

and there's a picture here showing the PCB with the instructions and the marquee:

https://www.arcadiabay.com/en/artikel/3 ... ius-gaiden

And these mini marquees in English:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ ... 1440914946

[Rastan78]

I came across this pic. Not sure what the writing says, but I think this is the Darius Gaiden CP at Hey? You can make out that there's an instruction card in there at least with the typical Darius powerup medals. Anyway it's more of just a curiosity. Not trying to print out a high res scan for a cab or anything.

Spoiler

[Rastan78]

Ah found it. Kind of anticlimactic bc it's just the medals without any cool art like some games have. Oh well mystery solved.

Spoiler

I'm kinda curious what it says about the silver medals tho.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Neat find. The picture's kinda small; it might be difficult for a JP speaker to translate exactly what it says as some of the kanji's a bit blurry, but maybe there's enough legible to figure out the gist of what it says?

[Rastan78]

Spoiler

Found one a bit higher res. Still on the blurry side though. Of course the medal values are random, but given the rumor and speculation about them over the years it would be funny if the OG instruction card confirmed as much day one.

Edit: Okay yeah the yellow text says something like Get Points/Random. The last word in yellow is "randamu."

https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-m ... 5ae1d.html

[Klatrymadon]

Only noticed last night that Shooting Love 200X is available on the UK Xbox website. Always thought that was one of the few Japan-only 360 shmups, but apparently it was released worldwide in 2015 (some 6 years after the JP download). Would have bought it years ago if I'd known about it! I will throw money at Trizeal wherever it appears.

All of the content is on Steam now, so it's a bit redundant for most people, I imagine, but I thought I'd mention it as a PSA for any Europeans who, like me, still do a lot of their shooting on a 360.

https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Prod ... 02544707d1

[Jonpachi]

How can I get into Service Mode on Batrider? I'm playing on the ACM-V and wondering if there's a way to get in as it boots via button inputs?

[BurlyHeart]

EDIT: I'll come back to this once Jonpachi's questions are answered

[Jonpachi]

Ok, one more Batrider question. I'm playing on Normal Course and trying NOT to trigger the multiple bosses at the end of Stage 5

Shmup wiki says:

To trigger more than one boss, these are the requirements:
• Bosses for stage 2/3 - Get a shot special level up.
• Bosses for stage2/4 - Get an option special level up.
• Bosses for stages 2/3/4 - Get both shot and option special level ups.
• Requires a surviving Batrider character for each boss.

I'm not sure I understand what this means. I don't know how to trigger these special level-ups. Also, this means to trigger the level-ups AT the boss for the given stages?

I did this on accident one game and got all three bosses at the end of Stage 5. I tried again and got only Yellow. Super confused here...

[BurlyHeart]

Something I've been meaning to ask for a while - would you consider dying to a TLB as a 1cc?

Reason I'm asking is I died to the TLB on Nex Machina, but I got a 1cc "trophy" on PSN. I've often considered it my first 1cc, but going over my games cleared list, I'm debating on if it should be included or not.

[BulletMagnet]

I'm not sure I understand what this means. I don't know how to trigger these special level-ups. Also, this means to trigger the level-ups AT the boss for the given stages?

The "option" level-ups involve allowing five of a particular item to fall offscreen and then collecting an "option" powerup, similar to Battle Garegga; assuming the same applies to the "shot" level-up you need to be at full shot strength and perform a similar trick to trigger the additional "special" power-up, though I'd have to dig a bit more to recall exactly how it works.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Something I've been meaning to ask for a while - would you consider dying to a TLB as a 1cc?

Technically it's not, but is it possible to get up to that point and not trigger the TLB? Would the game have ended had you not triggered the TLB? In which case it could be considered equivalent to 1ccing the game normally, you've proven you can 1cc without the TLB at least.

[BurlyHeart]

Something I've been meaning to ask for a while - would you consider dying to a TLB as a 1cc?

Technically it's not, but is it possible to get up to that point and not trigger the TLB? Would the game have ended had you not triggered the TLB? In which case it could be considered equivalent to 1ccing the game normally, you've proven you can 1cc without the TLB at least.

"Technically it's not" is good enough for me. Gives me a good excuse to go back and play it

Streets of Rage 2 gets bumped up to my first 1cc, now which is cooler anyway

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Streets of Rage 2 gets bumped up to my first 1cc, now which is cooler anyway

[Ddshot]

Has anyone got the dip switch setting for batrider b version,I looked online but it missing the on/off for switches 2 and 3
Thanks

[NMS]

Late replies but:

Are there any advantages to playing Tatsujin Ou on 2P side?

I can confirm that according to what was said during Calice last year, both sides are the same for almost everything. However one difference is the respawn location, since 2P will be on the right and 1P on the left. This can actually make a difference in some checkpoints, but I don't know if one side will be substantially easier than the other.

I've cleared all of the Toaplan games (at least one loop) and I agree with you about everything. I'm ranking the games' difficulty in my 1cc list for fun and here's what I have for Toaplan, only 1-ALL and always autofire unless otherwise stated:

Tatsujin Oh: 36
Same3 1P: 34 (15 for Same3 2P version, never played Fire Shark)
Dogyuun: 23
KyuKyoKu Tiger: 22
Tatsujin: 21
V-V: 19
Hellfire (1P): 16 (2P slightly easier but not a big difference)
Zero Wing (1P): 16 (same as Hellfire regarding 2P)
Daisenpuu: 15
Fixeight: 14 (with C.Horn, 19 for H.Young, didn't really try other characters)
Batsugun (original): 13
Out Zone: 12
Hishouzame: 10 (Flying Shark slightly easier, like 9)
Tiger Heli: 10
Slap Fight: 6 (8 without auto)
Vimana: 2

Of course you can add or remove a couple of points to any rating since it's subjective. Now the higher ratings (T-Oh and Same3) are a bit approximative because I don't have much to compare them with, but Tatsujin Oh and Same3 are much harder than the rest so a 10 points difference makes sense.

In that list, V-V, Dogyuun, Batsugun and Vimana make sense. Maybe Fixeight but it depends on the character (if you just want a clear, simply pick C. Horn and the game definitely isn't a 18 in my opinion). Oh and Batsugun Special isn't too shocking, I didn't play it myself but people seem to agree that it's among their easiest games. But judging from videos it should be a few notches above Vimana, 3 seems too low (or the 3 for Vimana is too high).

I actually agree with their rating for Zero Wing though it could be higher. A lot of the game is dead air, but the last stages are challenging and recovery is super hard, it's hard to rate this game. Thinking about it I maybe underrated it a little with my 16, but I didn't have a lot of experience with horis when I played it so it's hard to rate it appropriately. At any rate, I think their 15 isn't too shocking but your 18~20 range seems fairly accurate too.

Daisenpuu feels a bit too low at 13, it has a couple of pretty tricky parts (the double boat boss, the final boss) and recovery can be hard. Also you have a very limited amount of bombs (I don't even think you can hold more than 2), which is why I think it should be at least at 15. Also they said that the international version (Twin Hawk) is much easier, but people on this forum who played it (I didn't) say it's the opposite and that the international version is harder, because some enemies are pretty much impossible to kill due to bloated HP. Twin Hawk apparently has lower rank but the rank wasn't much of an issue in Daisenpuu (at least for loop 1), enemy HP is the hardest thing about the game and it's even worse in Twin Hawk.

Hishouzame and OutZone are just too high, as you said 10~12 makes more sense for Hishouzame and OutZone is just slightly harder.

The Kyuukyoku Tiger rating is nonsense, 24 would be an appropriate rating for autofire (and maybe +4-5 for non-auto? dealing with the bosses in the second half without auto sounds painful, at first I tried but eventually I gave up), even if I personally put it a bit lower. There's just no way this game is easier than Hishouzame. The game is long, you're slow, bullets are pretty fast, bombs take a while to go off, bosses generally require precise maneuvers to kill them, it has many traps and enemies ready to snipe you. If you make a mistake, the slow speed and bomb delay mean that it's hard to correct it. Not really an impossible game but it's challenging. Kyuukyoku Tiger and Dogyuun are definitely the two hardest Toaplan games after T-Oh and Same3 (though there's a world of difference between these two nightmares and Tiger/Dogyuun), which one of the two being harder being more of a matter of preference.

Same3 rating is a big joke, although 14 with autofire for the 2P version would be appropriate. But it's definitely wrong for 1P, very very wrong. No way it's easier than Hishouzame or equal to Kyuukyoku Tiger, it's one of the hardest 1-ALL there is. It's long, recovery is super hard (no speed after dying and it takes a ton of power-ups to have a decent shot), bullets are fast, bullet visibility in Stage 6 can be a problem, you need very precise routing as soon as stage 2, the bomb items feel like they run away from you, the weapon change items always go in your way while you want to keep blue 98% of the time (and if you pick red or green, it will take forever to find a blue item).

Slap Fight isn't too hard and it's short, but there's no way it's the same difficulty as Vimana. You need a decent amount of planning for Slap Fight, you don't have smart bombs, recovery is hard in some parts (though all of them can be routed, but a game rated 3 should be possible to do with almost no routing). Also there's the weapon system, if you bring the wrong weapon at the wrong place you may die (for example, enemies near the end of the game will greatly resist the laser), which is another thing you have to be careful about. Meanwhile in Vimana with autofire you just destroy everything. So yeah, I also think it should be a bit higher, like 6 or so.

Tatsujin requires a lot of memorization (though once you know all the traps it's not too hard overall), no way it's a 13, it takes a lot of time to get your first 1-ALL. As you said, it's at least 20, and it should stand a bit below Kyuukyoku Tiger (and Dogyuun). Probably their 5th hardest game (debatable with V-V which is a completely different style of game).

Did you really think that the 2P version of Hellfire was easier? To me it seemed harder because the on screen shot limit is less than the 1P version. It really makes the diagonal shot weapon pretty terrible in the 2P version since you can only have 1 shot on screen at a time when it's fully powered. I don't think the instant re spawns really help much either since it's not like you get a restock of bombs or anything. Usually just leads to a bunch of chain deaths with no hope of recovery.

I'm actually retracting my original statement yeah, with some explanation.

The thing is that I personally avoid using the diagonal shot and prefer the other three shots, which I find more reliable but requires more switching between weapons, so that's more to memorize. Front and rear shot seem to be the same in both versions, so is the enemy rank (apparently, I can't confirm for sure without analyzing the code, but they feel 100% identical to me), so from that point of view I find the game easier, yes. Vertical shot suffers from the limit but it's less of a problem compared to diagonal in my opinion. Diagonal is very viable in 1P and it's convenient because you can keep it for most of the game, but I have more fun switching between weapons, and it works great for the game (I still use diagonal from time to time though). And instant respawn helps a little, sure you may have chain deaths, but at least you can make progress instead of chain dying at the same checkpoint, which happens to me a lot in 1P. It doesn't help that in 1P, the checkpoints are very sparse and you need to survive for a long time to get to the next one.

So, for my specific way of playing, 2P feels easier to me since deaths are less punishing while the game plays mostly the same. There are no more checkpoints that feel like an instant game over, since you should always be able to limp until you get a few power-ups and reach the next part of the stage (which is not great, but better than the checkpoints in 1P). However, since it makes another strat pretty much useless (diagonal) and forces people to switch a lot, then yeah I believe it's harder as a whole. It's a harder comparison than, for example, Batsugun Special 1-ALL and Original, since for Batsugun one version is just easier on every aspect. Hellfire 2P makes one aspect easier while making one shot terrible and forcing people to use the other shots and potentially change strats completely.

[Creamy Goodness]

Any news on the Akai Katana Switch release? It was announced in April for a 2022 release and heading into Q4 I haven't seen anything else.

[Steven]

...Akai Katana is getting a Switch release? Not sure how I had never heard of this before, or maybe I did and forgot about it.

[Creamy Goodness]

...Akai Katana is getting a Switch release? Not sure how I had never heard of this before, or maybe I did and forgot about it.

https://www.gonintendo.com/contents/154 ... ch-in-2022

[Steven]

...Akai Katana is getting a Switch release? Not sure how I had never heard of this before, or maybe I did and forgot about it.

https://www.gonintendo.com/contents/154 ... ch-in-2022

Oh yeah, I actually went to that event in person. I had to rush over there after work on that day, though, so I missed pretty much everything before Hamster's presentation, but I really only went there to see M2's presentation anyway. That explains why I missed the Akai Katana announcement, as well.

Late replies but:

Are there any advantages to playing Tatsujin Ou on 2P side?

I can confirm that according to what was said during Calice last year, both sides are the same for almost everything. However one difference is the respawn location, since 2P will be on the right and 1P on the left. This can actually make a difference in some checkpoints, but I don't know if one side will be substantially easier than the other.

Okay, I thought so. I guess I'll just continue to play on 1P side, then.

Now, next question: where would you put Same! Same! Same! 1P with no autofire?

[OmegaFlareX]

where would you put Same! Same! Same! 1P with no autofire?

In a nursing home, because it has a horrible RSI and arthritis from constant button-mashing and can no longer care for itself.

[ShootyShoot]

Hi there, any experts here know what was the 1st Arcade shmup with rapid fire?

I've been playing Dangerous Seed and that's from 1989. I'm talking about turbo-style rapid fire, where button-mashing is pointless. Star Force (1984) has autofire, but is slower than button-mashing.

[Master O]

Has R-Type Leo ever received an official port?

[Steven]

Has R-Type Leo ever received an official port?

No. It got an official super terrible emulated release on Windows about a decade ago that you can no longer buy, however.

[Master O]

Has R-Type Leo ever received an official port?

No. It got an official super terrible emulated release on Windows about a decade ago that you can no longer buy, however.

Apparently, it still can be bought:

https://www.gamefools.com/pc-games/irem ... -hits.html

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/irem-arca ... 6438?mt=12

[BIL]

Hi there, any experts here know what was the 1st Arcade shmup with rapid fire?

I've been playing Dangerous Seed and that's from 1989. I'm talking about turbo-style rapid fire, where button-mashing is pointless. Star Force (1984) has autofire, but is slower than button-mashing.

UPL's Omega Fighter Special (1989) has some seriously hardcore chainsaw autofire by default, it's amazing.

Also has ESPGaluda-styled bullet time, and Shikigami no Shiro-prefiguring Buzz scoring. Just a preternatural affair all-around.

[Klatrymadon]

Was the PS2 port of the original Sonic Wings (the Oretachi Gēsen Zoku release) any good? It looks fine in videos and I'm very tempted to eventually buy a copy, but it occurred to me I've never seen any real discussion of it...

[Ghegs]

Was the PS2 port of the original Sonic Wings (the Oretachi Gēsen Zoku release) any good? It looks fine in videos and I'm very tempted to eventually buy a copy, but it occurred to me I've never seen any real discussion of it...

I thought it was fine, I 1CCed the game with that way back when. But it's not like I remember anything specific beyond that.

I still have it and it's got all the extra discs and other stuff included, if you're interested in purchasing it.

[pegboy]

Was the PS2 port of the original Sonic Wings (the Oretachi Gēsen Zoku release) any good? It looks fine in videos and I'm very tempted to eventually buy a copy, but it occurred to me I've never seen any real discussion of it...

According to Perikles in the hi score board for Sonic Wings, the PS2 port is much easier and has lower rank growth than the arcade version. I'm sure it plays fine but dunno if I would not consider it comparable to the PCB without much more testing.